


Sleep my darling

by thoughtfullyyoungduck



Category: IT (Movies - Muschietti), IT - Stephen King
Genre: Domestic Fluff, Fluff, M/M, Muscle cramps, this is just sweet
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-10
Updated: 2020-10-10
Packaged: 2021-03-08 02:20:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,495
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26938027
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thoughtfullyyoungduck/pseuds/thoughtfullyyoungduck
Summary: Richie gets a muscle cramp in the middle of the night, Eddie relieves him of it.
Relationships: Eddie Kaspbrak & Richie Tozier, Eddie Kaspbrak/Richie Tozier
Comments: 3
Kudos: 60





	Sleep my darling

The exhaustion brought forth by an inviting, crisp and clean bed worsens his cramps, but Richie refuses to give into the urge to move over and over again, out of fear he’ll wake Eddie up.

When its solely him in his bed, he tends to wiggle back and forth in search of a position that won’t hurt his leg as much and can relax him enough to fall asleep contently, though he knows that finding it is futile and nearly impossible.

The only real, fast working option is to raid the medication cabinet and swallow a painkiller, waiting impatiently for the medicine to dull the pain. Richie’s come to expect these random burst of nagging aches, followed by an excruciating contraction that tightens all the fibers in his legs ‘till it feels like his leg is about to pop of the bone. That last pain only last for less than a minute, but it can bother Richie up to days after the event, the nasty little fragments and the occasional shivers off withheld cramps shaking his leg.

This happened frequently enough that in high school Richie took a tablet of painkillers up to his room, so he would have it at his disposal just in case he started to feel it coming to a head and could prevent it before it fully developed. He’s in Eddie’s house now though, and as much time as he’s been spending here, he didn’t have the foresight to prepare for this situation to take place in Eddie’s bed.

A whimper fights its way out of Richie’s throat, but he clashes his teeth together to smore the sound. Eddie turns in his sleep, moving from where he had his back turned toward Richie to nuzzle under his chin, resting half on top of Richie. Richie holds his breath and forces his leg to stay absolutely still, a deep breath accumulating in the air. Richie’s chest still, tipping of Eddie that somethings the matter.

‘What?’ He mumbles, burrowing in Richie’s neck like a cat begging to be pet. Richie tries his best, but the urge to move becomes too much, so he does, leg kicking out beneath the blanket. He feels warm, flustered in the same way he always does when experiencing this particular phenomenon. His leg can’t keep still, but neither can his mind and his thoughts, circling round and thinking about things that can’t possibly be real but do feel that way. He really needs to get up and pace around. Eddie won’t let him. He tightens his arms to keep Richie in place, probably acting on an unconscious instinct.

‘I’m not awake’, Richie struggles to quietly whisper, hoping that Eddie would turn around and full back asleep quickly.

‘That’s such a bad movie line.’ Eddie groans deep in his chest, a warning sign that Eddie is fighting to get out of his sleep state. ‘Tell me what’s wrong.’

Richie pushes him off gently, then rushes up without any concern of where he throws the blankets. His period of motionlessness seems to have him worse of them before, every nerve ending in his leg stinging.

It’s a horrible feeling, and one that Richie hates most out of all his ailments. He begins pacing around the room, stretching his toes towards his body to relax the over strung leg.

The soft push wakes Eddie up completely, but thankfully he doesn’t appear to be annoyed. He regards Richie with a slight sliver of sympathy, then pats Richie’s old spot on the bed and rolls out himself. In the years that they’ve been together, Eddie has only witnessed the phenomenon twice. During all the other occurrences, Richie snuck out before Eddie could wake up, only to find Richie sprawled out on the couch the next morning.

The two times Eddie has seen it though are enough for him to remember the effects it causes, and so he can immediately tell why Richie is acting so strange. 

‘Come here’, he requests while slinking up to Richie, pressing a chaste kiss on his lips. ‘Lay on the bad and use a pillow to elevate your leg. I’ll be right back.’

He tips Richie in a slow dip, both hands protectively covering the small of Richie’s back and chuckling as Richie flails his arm in order to regain his balance. Of course, Eddie never lets it go that far, and stops once Richie’s back is nearly bend in two but still comfortable, before dragging him back up and letting him fall to the bed with a soft thud.

Richie giggles sweetly, accepting another kiss and shutting his eyes once Eddie retracts and his hand caresses Richie’s nose.

‘What the hell was that for?’

‘I just wanted to make you forget about the pain for a second.’

His plan succeeded, without Richie’s awareness, but now the short term plan is over and the pain is back.

‘Eddie’, Richie asks pitiful. ‘Can you get a paracetamol for me please?’

Eddie hushes him, hovering his lips above Richie’s eyebrow, pecking the spot over there. It’s a neat little patch of skin that is ridiculous sensitive for Richie, and as soon as it’s touched he goes pliant and limp. Eddie has exploited it more than once.

‘I know. Let me take care of you okay? Put a pillow down.’ Leavening to go and retrieve Richie’s medication. The urge to call out for Eddie and ask him to stay is persistent, like a child begging for the loving embrace of their mother, but Richie realized he’ll feel so much better when he lets Eddie do what he needs to do.

For once, without complaint, he follows Eddie’s instructions, lying flat on the bed with an elevated leg. Richie’s scared Eddie might find him dramatic, so he has always tried to minimalize his pain and hide it away, but sometimes it is just impossible. He finds he doesn’t have to, when Eddie returns with a steaming mug, massage oil and a paracetamol.

‘Here sweetheart,’ he greets, placing the mug on Richie’s bedside table and handing him the pill. Richie accepts it gratefully, swallowing it down with his eyes closed and praying it’ll dissolve and help fast.

In the meanwhile, Eddie moves towards his leg, opening the oil bottle and warming it between his hands. If he weren’t in such pain, Richie wouldn’t want Eddie to do this. A wave of gulf washes over him, because Eddie is awake because of him, actively doing something while he should be resting for another jam packed work day. As if Eddie can sense his thoughts, Richie sometimes wonders if he truly can, he reassures Richie before he can voice his opinion.

‘It’s not a problem Rich. We’re in this together now. For the good times and the bad times.’

The sentiment almost makes Richie cry. ‘Save it for your vows, mister I can do everything so much better you can.’

‘I already did’, Eddie laughs. ‘And I definitely wasn’t the one who stole the show with my vows.’

‘Yeah your mom was shocked when I brought up our old sex lives. I’m glad I had Ben to protect me.’

In retaliation, Eddie digs his fingers in the tender flesh of Richie, with just enough force that the muscle screws up and relaxes. Richie hisses but breaths in relief after the initial dig fades away.

‘My mother was long dead asshole. Now drink your tea and shut up before I choke you.’

The tea Eddie made was a Rosemary seeped brew, ironic considering the tranquilizing effect Rosemary supposedly has. Richie doesn’t buy much into it, but Eddie does and by default Richie follows along with all the new ways Eddie tries to keep them healthy.

The tranquillizer must not have been a lie, because after a while of Eddie massaging his leg and Richie sipping the tea, his eyes slide shut and his mind quiets down, looping out his head like a movie that has just been ended. He apparently actually doses for a while, because one moment he blinks, struggling to open his eyes again, and the other the mug is out of reach, the pain is gone and he’s tucked in his side of the bed. Eddie is scooting in bed on the other side, smiling once he sees Richie staring at him.

‘Hey sleepyhead’, he teases. ‘How was your old man’s nap.’

Richie’s brain still works fuzzily, because all he does is blink Eddie’s way, laughing softly and taking Eddie’s arm so he can curl it around him.

‘Okay, I guess I’ll just start teasing you tomorrow’, Eddie relents, pulling Richie as close to him as possible.

‘Yeah, once I’m able to come up with good comebacks.’

Eddie laughs, tips his head into Richie’s curls and breathes in. As much at peace as Richie himself is.

‘Thanks Eds’, Richie says with urgency, getting rewarded by a forehead kiss.

‘Any time Rich. Any time.’

Richie sleeps through the rest of the night soundly.


End file.
